Arkansas Rice Depot

In 1982, members of the Arkansas Interfaith Task Force put their heads together in an effort to alleviate hunger in Arkansas. The task force encouraged many churches to start food pantries. Later, they started calling on businesses to donate food.
From that task force, a new state nonprofit was born. The group adopted the name Arkansas Rice Depot because the first food to be donated and distributed was an abundant Arkansas crop: rice.
In 1986, then-Gov. Bill Clinton helped the Rice Depot distribute its one-millionth pound of rice.
Now the Arkansas Rice Depot serves Arkansas residents in every county in the state and distributes more than 6.5 million pounds of food a year, said Laura Rhea, executive director of the Arkansas Rice Depot.
The Arkansas Rice Depot, which employs 14 Arkansans, provides food to 13 percent of the state’s population, Rhea said. In 1994, Arkansas Rice Depot started the Food for Kids program, a program to send food home to children who wanted for food at night and on the weekends.
Now the program serves 604 schools and feeds 25,000 children per year, Rhea said. “And while that sounds remarkable, we’re only in a little over half of the schools,” Rhea said.
“And a hungry child, they can’t wait. You can’t put them on a waiting list and say, ‘I have a budget to feed you in three years.’ So our challenge is to see how quickly we can grow that program,” Rhea said.
In 2010, the Arkansas Rice Depot plans to move to e-newsletters, pursue more cause marketing and Web site fundraising and expand its gourmet gift shop, Simple Pleasures.
Rhea could easily name the nonprofit’s biggest challenge. “An increasing amount of hunger is our biggest challenge,” Rhea said.
However, she has hope. Rhea said that per capita, Arkansas gives more than most states.
“We are a very generous state, so that gives me hope,” she said.

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